The present invention relates to personal continuous belay systems for use with a suspended belay line system. In particular, the invention concerns a modular system for anchoring the suspended belay line system in a manner that easily accommodates the personal belay system.
In a typical personal belay system, the user is fitted with a harness that may be removably clipped to a shuttle or glider. The shuttle is configured to slide easily along an array of belay lines in the form of suspended ropes or cables. Common forms of personal belay systems are used in the construction and building maintenance industries where workers are performing tasks at dangerous heights, such as high-rise building construction, window washing and roof repairs. In these common systems, the runs are relatively short and often include a cable run dedicated to each worker. Moreover, the cable runs are usually fixed, stable and predictable. For instance, in building construction, the runs follow existing horizontal beams of the building and are anchored to the building vertical beams.
Personal belay systems are also finding increasing use in the recreation and adventure market. Fall arresting systems are essential gear for mountain climbing, rock climbing and rappelling. More recently, fall arrest systems have been used in obstacle and adventure courses in which a participant must negotiate a hazardous and unstable course. Such a course may include an elevated “trail” formed by horizontal ropes, suspended logs, rocks and the like. In these adventure courses, the personal belay system must provide security against an accidental fall, without inhibiting the participant's freedom of movement.
Unlike the commercial and industrial uses noted above, the belay system in the adventure course contemplates long belay line runs and an extremely active participant. In some adventure courses, the participant's travel through the course is timed, so the adventurer will necessarily be moving as fast as possible. The belay system must not interfere with the rapid traverse of the adventurer and must be flexible enough to work wherever the adventure course may go. In some course, multiple participants may be traversing the same run at the same time, so the belay system must be able to accommodate multiple safety cables/ropes and multiple shuttles/gliders.
As participants demand more and more excitement, the adventure course will increase in complexity and risk. There is a need for a modular continuous belay system that can grow with the adventure course while providing the greatest degree of flexibility and usability possible.